Tech tips: Sorting lists simple to do with Word

Many people don’t realize that you can sort lists in Word. For example, suppose you plan to send out a bunch of cards to your friends. You might have typed up their names into a document like:

John Smith

Zeke Jones

Charles Green

If you look at the list, you’ll notice that they are not in alphabetical order and there’s a space in between the first name and the last name. To sort them, highlight the lines of text and choose Table|Sort. In the Sort Text dialog box, it shows that it will sort by paragraphs. Click OK and you get:

Charles Green

John Smith

Zeke Jones

Now you realize – oops – Word sorted the list by the first name. What if you want them sorted by last name? In the Sort Text dialog, click the Options button. Change the radio button to Other and type a space in the box. Click OK. Now change the Sort by drop down to Word 2 and click OK. You now have:

Charles Green

Zeke Jones

John Smith

Of course, when sorting, the way the data is setup is important. All the first names need to be one word. If Mary Jo is a first name, you may need to separate Mary and Jo with a nonbreaking space (Ctrl+Shift+spacebar), so they stay together.